No Time to Let Down (CU & Drake)

[1972Shocker]

Last Friday's win over MSU was very important, but so is each and every match remaining on the Shocks schedule.

The Shocks have litte, if any, room for error if they want to position themselves for an NCAA at-large bid.

Creighton comes to town Friday in 2nd place one-half game ahead of the Shocks (the teams are tied in the important loss column). Creighton has already played UNI twice so the Shocks can ill afford another loss to the Bluejays.

The Shocks follow on Saturday with a match against Drake. Drake has been up and down some this season and the Shocks did sweep them in Des Moines with 2 of the 3 sets being close. However, Drake is an experienced team and they did knock off Creighton in 4 sets a couple of weeks ago in Des Moines. The Shocks will definitely have to do more than just show up to take care of the Bulldogs.

Hopefully, Shocker fans will not take these matches for granted and make it out to Koch Arena in big numbers to help the Shocks be successful.

:goshocks:

[1stThings1st]

We can and should play the way we did during the first match of the MSU set. Then no one will have a fun trip home.

i like this team. Moving the ball all over, blocking, digs, good passing. Fix the service errors late in the sets and we will be outstanding. Wouldn't want to be coming to CKA. Creighton, MSU, and N Iowa will not have fun trips home.

[1972Shocker]

We can and should play the way we did during the first match of the MSU set. Then no one will have a fun trip home.

Actually, if the Shocks play like they did in Sets 1 and 5 of the MSU match then Shocker fans will have a very fun trip home.

If they play like the did in Sets 2 and 4 of the MSU match then things could get dicey.

I would love to see the Shocks have a consistently strong match from first serve to match point.

Hopefully, we get a very large crowd out in support of the Ladies.

:goshocks:

[1972Shocker]

A great 5-set win for the Shocks tonight over the Bluejays. A say great for several reasons.

I'm not sure the Shocks were the best Volleyball team on the floor tonight and I don't think the Shocks played their best. Furthermore, they looked dead in the water trailing at 5-9 in the deciding 5th set.

A tough win over a very good volleyball team to move into sole possession of 2nd place on a night when maybe the Shocks were not at the top of their game and in a match where they probably lost the serve and passing game makes this an outstanding win.

This team seems to be adopting inconsistency as their core trait. At times they play lights out vollebyall (i.e. tonights 3rd set) at other times they looked lost. OTOH they have the capacity to overcome adversity and pull out tough wins.

Drake apparently knocked off MSU tonight in Springfield so tomorrow night may not be much easier than tonight was. The MVC has developed into a very tough VB league.

:goshocks:

[WuDrWu]

The upset bug was running through the Valley tonight. Drake did indeed beat the Bares in Springfield 3-1.

Evansville was inexplicably swept at Indiana State.

UNI had no such trouble with Bradley.


I can't remember many times these ladies were down like that and managed to sneak out a win.


5 games to go, we lead Creighton by 1 in the loss column, Missouri State by 2 and Drake by 4. We trail UNI by 3. UNI isn't going to lose unless its to us. If MSU can beat CU tomorrow and we can cook the Geese, we'll have a 2 game lead with 4 to play and in great shape to finish 2nd.

'72 check PM. Does anyone think that the crowds this year are unusually subdued and quiet?

[tgcshock]

That was one of the quietest crowds we have ever had. Not much enthusiasm until the very end. Too bad because it was a truly exciting contest from start to finish. Nice to see the Shox find a way to get it done at the end.

[1stThings1st]

Great win for SHOX. Crowd had no energy just like the girls on the floor. We looked tired. Jays had energy and emotion. Jays celebrated when they stuffed us. We need some leadership other than what will be on the court tonight at halftime.

[1972Shocker]

I was also struck by how quiet and docile the crowd was last night especially early on.

The Lady Shocks can not afford a let down tonight as an experienced Drake team will be coming in with a great deal of confidence after their win at MSU last night.

I was surprised that Drake took that match with relative ease winning 25-17, 21-25, 25-22 and 25-19. They did that with one of their big hitters, Angela Bys having a poor night. Bys hit a negative .190 (5-9-21). Even with Bys having an off night Drake outhit the power laden Bears .256 to .152

Emily Heffernen was an outstanding 14-1-23 = 0.565
Mikayla Sims was 11-0-27 = .407
Alisa DeBerg Roth was 15-5-25 0 .400

Those are great attack stats and you won't win many matches if your opponents put up those kind of numbers.

However, I am confident the Shocks are capable of keeping those number down if they are properly focused and motivated.

Hopefully, the crowd brings a better game tonight also. Should be another good match.

:goshocks:

[1972Shocker]

We really need MSU to find their game fast and to come up with a win over Creighton.

If Creighton can win at MSU tonight that will give the Bluejays a leg up on the Shocks in the event of a tiebreaker as the will own a sweep over the Bears while the Shocks and Bears split their two matches.

The Shocks can make it a mute point by winning out, but unlike Creighton, the Shocks still have UNI left on their schedule.

[The Mad Hatter]

We really need MSU to find their game fast and to come up with a win over Creighton.

If Creighton can win at MSU tonight that will give the Bluejays a leg up on the Shocks in the event of a tiebreaker as the will own a sweep over the Bears while the Shocks and Bears split their two matches.

The Shocks can make it a mute point by winning out, but unlike Creighton, the Shocks still have UNI left on their schedule.

The good thing is that, in spite of losing to Drake, MSU is more than capable of beating CU. They have a tendency to fall asleep for certain matches (see ISU and DU), but hopefully they will play up to their ability tonight.

[flyingMoose]

In the postgame, Lambo observed that MEH did not have her best match: too many soft dumps, not the best distribution. Also, I thought some of her sets were wildly inaccurate.

But the game can be easy to play sitting up in the stands. :)

[The Mad Hatter]

In the postgame, Lambo observed that MEH did not have her best match: too many soft dumps, not the best distribution. Also, I thought some of her sets were wildly inaccurate.

But the game can be easy to play sitting up in the stands. :)

Some of MEH problems were a result of bad serve receive putting her in tough spots, but even with that, she usually is better. Her decisions on when to attack were driving me crazy all night, especially since she usually picks her spots much better.

All of that beings said, MEH certainly spoils us most of the time and even yesterday it was her service run in the 5th that got us back in it.

[1972Shocker]

Hopefully, MEH's legs are holding up OK.

[WuDrWu]

Hopefully, MEH's legs are holding up OK.

They appear to be perfect from where I'm sitting.

[The Mad Hatter]

MSU swept Creighton, so with our sweep of Drake, we now have a two game lead for 2nd in the Valley. Huge because even if we lose to UNI, we can still be alone in 2nd by winning all our other matches.